Former Florida State assistant Charles Kelly has been coaching since 1990 and has worked with a ton of great coaches. However, he names only one coach as the "most talented" he's ever worked with in his 26 years of coaching. And the answer was quite surprising considering it wasn't Jimbo Fisher, but a man he only worked with for one season in Charles Kelly.
"Coach Fulmer, he showed what kind of leadership he had," Kelly said. "Coach Pruitt and I had the chance to work together in 2013, and I told a bunch of people, and I told him, he was the most talented coach I'd worked with at that time in my 26 years. And for Coach Fulmer to be able to see that and to give him this opportunity, that's great.
"He's gonna do great things here."
Pruitt and Kelly were together under Jimbo Fisher at Florida State and it's safe to that Kelly really does like Pruitt considering he followed him to Tennessee. Florida State finished in the top-25 for defense the last three seasons so Tennessee fans are hoping that translates quickly for them next season.
Kelly went on to say how much he is looking forward to coaching in Knoxville not only because of the chance to work with Pruitt, but also because of the history at Tennessee.
"I'd like to be able to thank Coach Pruitt for giving me the opportunity not only to work with him, but for Coach Fulmer," Kelly said. "It is an honor not only to coach here with the tradition, but to be able to coach with these men. Not only are they great football coaches, but they're great people. And I believe this: When you do things the right way and you work hard every day, you're gonna get the results that you expect. And that's that we intend to do.
"I can promise you this: Nobody is gonna outwork us — any of us."
Kelly has previous stops at Jacksonville State, Henderson State, Nicholls State, Georgia Tech and Florida State of course.
[h/t 247Sports]